Foster Care Victoria

The Pyjama Foundation… taking time to read aloud to children    

The Pyjama Foundation Mentor Training Program equips volunteer angels to read aloud to children in foster care on a weekly basis.  The Program offers foster parents support and a well-deserved respite.  Our angels provide extra READING ALOUD experiences for children in care to increase the number of books read aloud to them and:

• assist improve their levels of literacy
• inspire a love of learning and a belief in self-worth
• help them to become confident people valued by our society

The Pyjama Foundation highlights the national importance READING ALOUD TO ALL AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN.

Thanks for letting us know about this organisation, Helen, what fantastic work!

Many foster care agencies also run mentorship type programs with various emphases and called various things, such as “Big Brother, Big Sister”, “Friends” and many others, but this is the first I’ve heard of a program specifically to support foster carers and foster children with literacy in particular. Currently Pyjama Foundation runs out of Queensland but we look forward to the national roll out!    

I have just heard about this two-day workshop coming up in December, entitled  ‘Children in Trauma, Trauma in Children’.  The workshop will be presented by trauma specialist Dr Bruce Perry, senior fellow of the Child Trauma Academy .  The workshop will be hosted jointly by Berry Street Victoria, Take Two and the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency.  Bruce Perry has contributed significantly to understanding how children are effected by trauma, and in particular, the impact of trauma on brain development.  This workshop is for carers, workers, and therapists.  I strongly recommend attending if you can, as Bruce Perry’s teaching is both enlightening and hopeful.   The workshop venue is ‘The Centre Ivanhoe’ and each day will run from 9.30pm to 4.00pm.  I don’t have the exact date or costs, but you can contact Amanda Kevin-Tidis on 9429 9266 or akevintidis@berrystreet.org.au for more information.>